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How to ignore field/column only when return response from spring boot

I need to ignore the field when return the response from spring boot. Pls find below info,
I have one pojo called Student as below
Student {
id,
name,
lastName
}
i am getting a body for as PostRequest as below
{
id:"1",
name:"Test",
lname:"Test"
}
i want get all the data from frontEnd (id,name,Lname) But i just want to return the same pojo class without id as below,
{
name:"Test",
lName:"Test"
}
I have tried #JsonIgnore for column id, But it makes the id column as null(id=null -it is coming like this even when i send data to id field from postman) when i get the data from frontEnd.
I would like to use only one pojo to get the data with proper data(withoud getting id as Null), and need to send back the data by ignoring the id column.
Is there any way to achieve it instead of using another pojo?

You just need to use #JsonInclude(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL) at class level and it will be helpful for ignore all your null fields.
For example :
#JsonInclude(JsonInclude.Include.NON_NULL)
public class Test {
// Fields
// Constructors
// Getters - setters
}
As of now you are using only one POJO it's not good practice because it's your main entity into your project, so good practice is always make DTO for the same.

This is possible via the #JsonView annotation that is part of Jackson. Spring can leverage it to define the views used on the controller.
You'd define your DTO class like this:
class User {
User(String internalId, String externalId, String name) {
this.internalId = internalId;
this.externalId = externalId;
this.name = name;
}
#JsonView(User.Views.Internal.class)
String internalId;
#JsonView(User.Views.Public.class)
String externalId;
#JsonView(User.Views.Public.class)
String name;
static class Views {
static class Public {
}
static class Internal extends Public {
}
}
}
The Views internal class acts as a marker to jackson, in order to tell it which fields to include in which configuration. It does not need to be an inner class, but that makes for a shorter code snippet to paste here. Since Internal extends Public, all fields marked with Public are also included when the Internal view is selected.
You can then define a controller like this:
#RestController
class UserController {
#GetMapping("/user/internal")
#JsonView(User.Views.Internal.class)
User getPublicUser() {
return new User("internal", "external", "john");
}
#GetMapping("/user/public")
#JsonView(User.Views.Public.class)
User getPrivateUser() {
return new User("internal", "external", "john");
}
}
Since Spring is aware of the JsonView annotations, the JSON returned by the /public endpoint will contain only externalId and name, and the /internal endpoint will additionally include the internalId field.
Note that fields with no annotation will not be included if you enable any view. This behaviour can be controlled by MapperFeature.DEFAULT_VIEW_INCLUSION, which was false in the default Spring ObjectMapper when I used this for the last time.
You can also annotate your #RequestBody parameters to controller methods with JsonView, to allow/disallow certain parameters on input objects, and then use a different set of parameters for output objects.

Switch field names between the received rest response and output to client

I have the following object and its value is set via a REST call as follows.
#Getter
#Setter
public class Benefit {
#JsonProperty("text")
private String headerText; // To note, I can't modify this headerText name
}
Data set from a rest call.
ResponseEntity<Benefit> response =
template.exchange(url, HttpMethod.POST, request, Benefit.class);
Benefit benefit = response.getBody();
The return value from the rest call is in following format which is why I annotated it as text.
{
"text" : "some text"
}
After this, using this response, I am passing it down as a value to the client that called me.
But when I send the information down, I don't want to name it as text.
I want to call it as description. Thus my response will be as follows:
{
"description" : "some text"
}
Queries/ Pointers
1. Is there a way to do this without me having to manually set it?
2. This headerText is in use for different REST call. In that scenario, I need to both
receive the value as text and also return as text. (Thus that has no issues).
3. Preferably any possible solutions, should not affect above point 2.
4. But is ok if it will affect. I will go with an entirely new Benefit2 Object to resolve this if there is a solution which affects point 2.
One possible way to do this is to set the value to another variable and pass that down as follows only for the particular rest call.
But finding it very cumbersome as follows.
Add a new field called description
#Getter
#Setter
public class Benefit {
#JsonProperty("text")
private String headerText;
// add a new field
private String description;
}
After the rest call, do the following:
Benefit benefit = response.getBody();
benefit.setDescription(benefit.getHeadlineText);
benefit.setHeaderText(null);
Any better ways?
To clarify on the flow:
Client calls my service
My service calls another service and got back:
{
"text" : "some text"
}
I then return the following back to the client.
{
"description" : "some text"
}
Thoughts after discussion.
Intention to use this object in both places, when calling rest and when returning response to client.
#Getter
#Setter
public class TestBenefit extends Benefit {
#Getter(AccessLevel.NONE)
#JsonProperty("text")
private String text;
private String description;
public void setText(String text) {
this.description = text;
}
}

Over time I learned that trying to use one object for multiple purposes in these scenarios is more trouble than it is worth. You should create objects that cater to your requests and responses appropriately. Use base classes if necessary. Also, I wouldn't call it Benefit2. :o) Name your classes, to some degree, for what they are used for. You could do something like...
class BenefitForOtherPurpose extends Benefit {
#JsonProperty('description')
public String getHeaderText() {
return this.headerText;
}
}
To that end, I don't think there is a way using the Jackson API to adjust the #JsonProperty value dynamically short of some reflection kung-fu that, again, is likely more trouble than it is worth. And there's nothing I know of in the Jackson API to conditionally set that outside of this complex solution:
Conditional JsonProperty using Jackson with Spring Boot

Can model class implement Model UI?

So far in my Java code with Spring Boot I was using models, or POJO objects to achieve better control of my objects, etc. Usually I am creating Entities, Repositories, Services, Rest controllers, just like documentation and courses are suggesting.
Now however I am working with Thymeleaf templates, HTML a bit of Bootstrap and CSS in order to create browser interface. For methods in #Controller, as parameter, I am passing Model from Spring Model UI like this:
#GetMapping("/employees")
private String viewAllEmployees(Model employeeModel) {
employeeModel.addAttribute("listEmployees", employeeService.getAllEmployees());
return "employeeList";
}
My question is: How can I use my POJO objects instead of org.springframework.ui.Model;?
My first guess was this:
public class EmployeeModel implements Model{
private long employeeId;
private String firstName;
private String lastName;
private String email;
private String phone;
private long companyId;
//getter and setter methods
}
And in order to do that I have to #Override Model methods which is fine with me. And it looks like Java, Spring etc. does not complain in compile time, and I can use this POJO object in my #Controller like this:
#Controller
public class EmployeeController {
#Autowired
private EmployeeService employeeService;
#GetMapping("/employees")
private String viewAllEmployees(EmployeeModel employeeModel) {
employeeModel.addAttribute("listEmployees", employeeService.getAllEmployees());
return "employeeList";
}}
I run the code and it starts, shows my /home endpoint which works cool, however when I want to go to my /employees endpoing where it should show my eployees list it throws this:
Method [private java.lang.String com.bojan.thyme.thymeApp.controller.EmployeeController.viewAllEmployees(com.bojan.thyme.thymeApp.model.EmployeeModel)] with argument values:[0] [type=org.springframework.validation.support.BindingAwareModelMap] [value={}] ] with root cause java.lang.IllegalArgumentException: argument type mismatch
exception.
Please note that Rest controller is working perfectly in browser and Postman.
Is it possible that String as a method is the problem? Should my method be of some other type like List<EmployeeModel> or maybe EmployeeModel itself? If it is so, how to tell the method that I want my employeeList.html to be returned?
I sincerely hope that someone can halp me with this one :)

How can I use my POJO objects instead of org.springframework.ui.Model;?
I don't think that is the best practice when you are working with Thymeleaf. According to their documentation, you should attach your Objects to your Model. So in your controller you would be manipulating models that contain your Pojos.
Example:
#RequestMapping(value = "message", method = RequestMethod.GET)
public ModelAndView messages() {
ModelAndView mav = new ModelAndView("message/list");
mav.addObject("messages", messageRepository.findAll());
return mav;
}

You should always use org.springframework.ui.Model as argument. This class is basically a Map with key/value pairs that are made available to Thymeleaf for rendering.
Your first example is how you should do it:
#GetMapping("/employees") //<1>
private String viewAllEmployees(Model model) {
model.addAttribute("employees", employeeService.getAllEmployees()); // <2>
return "employeeList"; // <3>
}
<1> This is the URL that the view will be rendered on
<2> Add any Java object you want as attribute(s) to the model
<3> Return the name of the Thymeleaf template. In a default Spring Boot with Thymeleaf application, this will refer to the template at src/main/resources/templates/employeeList.html. In that template, you will be able to access your model value with ${employees}.

Dynamic POJO validation based on groups in spring

Consider the following pojo for reference:
public class User{
private String username;
private String firstName;
private String middleName;
private String lastName;
private String phone;
//getters and setters
}
My application is a basically spring-boot based REST API which exposes two endpoints, one to create the user and the other to retrieve a user.
The "users" fall into certain categories, group-a, group-b etc. which I get from the headers of the post request.
I need to validated the user data in runtime and the validations may differ based on the group of a user.
for example, the users that fall into group-a may have phone numbers as an optional field whereas it might be a mandatory field for some other group.
The regex may also vary based on their groups.
I need to be able to configure spring, to somehow dynamically validate my pojo as soon as they are created and their respective set of validations get triggered based on their groups.
Maybe I can create a yml/xml configuration which would allow me to enable this?
I would prefer to not annotate my private String phone with #NotNull and #Pattern.
My configuration is as follows:
public class NotNullValidator implements Validator {
private String group;
private Object target;
public String getGroup() {
return group;
}
public void setGroup(String group) {
this.group = group;
}
public Object getTarget() {
return target;
}
public void setTarget(Object target) {
this.target = target;
}
#Override
public void validate(Object o) {
if (Objects.nonNull(o)) {
throw new RuntimeException("Target is null");
}
}
}
public interface Validator {
void validate(Object o);
}
#ConfigurationProperties(prefix = "not-null")
#Component
public class NotNullValidators {
List<NotNullValidator> validators;
public List<NotNullValidator> getValidators() {
return validators;
}
public void setValidators(List<NotNullValidator> validators) {
this.validators = validators;
}
}
application.yml
not-null:
validators:
-
group: group-a
target: user.username
-
group: group-b
target: user.phone
I want to configure my application to somehow allow the validators to pick their targets (the actual objects, not the strings mentioned in the yml), and invoke their respective public void validate(Object o) on their targets.
P.S.
Please feel free to edit the question to make it better.
I am using jackson for serializing and deserializing JSON.

The easiest solution to your problem, as i see it, is not with Spring or the POJOs themselves but with a design pattern.
The problem you're describing is easily solved by a strategy pattern solution.
You match the strategy to use by the header you're expecting in the request, that describes the type of user, and then you perform said validations inside the strategy itself.
This will allow you to use the same POJO for the whole approach, and deal with the specifics of handling/parsing and validating data according to the each type of user's strategy.
Here's a link from wiki books with a detailed explanation of the pattern
Strategy Pattern
Suppose you have a basic interface for your strategies:
interface Strategy {
boolean validate(User user);
}
And you have 2 different implementations for the 2 different types of user:
public class StrategyA implements Strategy {
public boolean validate(User user){
return user.getUsername().isEmpty();
}
}
public class StrategyB implements Strategy {
public boolean validate(User user){
return user.getPhone().isEmpty();
}
}
You add a Strategy attribute to your User POJO and assign the right implementation of the Strategy to that attribute when you receive the post request.
Everytime you need to validate data for that user you just have to invoke the validate method of the assigned strategy.
If each User can fit multiple strategies, you can add a List<Strategy> as an attribute instead of a single one.
If you don't want to change the POJO you have to check which is the correct strategy every time you receive a post request.
Besides the validate method you can add methods to handle data, specific to each strategy.
Hope this helps.

You can use validation groups to control which type of user which field gets validated for. For example:
#NotBlank(groups = {GroupB.class})
private String phone;
#NotBlank(groups = {GroupA.class, GroupB.class})
private String username;
Then you use the headers from the request that you mentioned to decide which group to validate against.
See http://blog.codeleak.pl/2014/08/validation-groups-in-spring-mvc.html?m=1 for a complete example.
Updated to include a more comprehensive example:
public class Val {
private Validator validator = Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory().getValidator();
public boolean isValid(User user, String userType) {
usergroups userGroup = usergroups.valueOf(userType);
Set<ConstraintViolation<User>> constraintViolations = validator.validate(user, userGroup.getValidationClass());
return constraintViolations.isEmpty();
}
public interface GroupA {}
public interface GroupB {}
public enum usergroups {
a(GroupA.class),
b(GroupB.class);
private final Class clazz;
usergroups(Class clazz) {
this.clazz = clazz;
}
public Class getValidationClass() {
return clazz;
}
}
}
This doesn't use application.yaml, instead the mapping of which fields are validated for each group is set in annotations, similar results using Spring's built in validation support.

I was able to solve my problem with the use of Jayway JsonPath.
My solution goes as follows:
Add a filter to your API which has the capability to cache the InputStream of the ServletRequest since it can be read only once. To achieve this, follow this link.
Create a bunch of validators and configure them in your application.yml file with the help of #ConfigurationProperties. To achieve this, follow this link
Create a wrapper which would contain all your validators as a list and initialize it with #ConfigurationProperties and the following configuration:
validators:
regexValidators:
-
target: $.userProfile.lastName
pattern: '[A-Za-z]{0,12}'
group: group-b
minMaxValidators:
-
target: $.userProfile.age
min: 18
max: 50
group: group-b
Call the validate method in this wrapper with the group which comes in the header, and then call the validate of the individual validators. To achieve this, I wrote the following piece of code in my wrapper:
public void validate(String input, String group) {
regexValidators.stream()
.filter(validator -> group.equals(validator.getGroup()))
.forEach(validator -> validator.validate(input));
minMaxValidators.stream()
.filter(validator -> group.equals(validator.getGroup()))
.forEach(validator -> validator.validate(input));
}
and the following method in my validator:
public void validate(String input) {
String data = JsonPath.parse(input).read(target);
if (data == null) {
throw new ValidationException("Target: " + target + " is NULL");
}
Matcher matcher = rule.matcher(data);
if (!matcher.matches()) {
throw new ValidationException("Target: " + target + " does not match the pattern: " + pattern);
}
}
I have created a functioning project to demonstrate the validations and it can be found here.
I understand that the answer alone might not be very clear, please follow the above mentioned url for the complete source code.

default value for JAX-RS POST bean property

I have the following JAX-RS resource:
#POST
public Response createPerson(
final User user) {
...
}
and User bean is:
public class User {
protected String lastName;
protected String role;
#DefaultValue("true")
protected Boolean active;
#DefaultValue("dd.MM.yyyy")
protected String dateFormat;
...//getters and setters
}
When I don't specify values for 'active' and 'dateFormat' I expect them to be filled with default values. But they are null.
I've read docs for #DefaultValue and it seems to be not suitable for my scenario. But how can I ask jersey to fill these absent properties wiith defaults?
Edit:
I want to use annotations instead of the code (e.g. in constructor) because I want to be able to automatically generate API documentation (e.g. swagger). Swagger already supports #DefaultValue when providing parameter info, but I can extend it, if another approach with annotations is used.
Of course I can use code together with swagger-specific annotations, but this leads to duplications. I'd rather use same meta-info to get both application logic and documentation. I'm ok with custom annotations, while extending both jersey and swagger.

You could set the defaults either directly in the class definition or in the no-arg constructor, all in plain old java, no need for any annotations. When using the primitive type instead of the wrapper, active would default to false.
Just as an example:
public static class User {
public boolean primActive;
public Boolean wrapActive;
public boolean consActive;
public User() {
consActive = true;
}
}
The resource:
#POST
#Path("foo")
public User getUser( User user ) {
return user;
}
When posting an empty request (when using json: {}), the following is returned.
{
primActive: false
consActive: true
}